Vodnikov trg/Vodnik square, Maribor

The square that houses Maribor's day market

Vodnikov trg (pronounced as "Vod·nee·kow terg") or Vodnik square is a big square in Maribor near the river Drava and close to the Round tower and outside the former southwestern part of the defense wall around the medieval core of the city. It's named After Valentin Vodnik (1758-1819), a Slovenian poet. Today the square is used as Maribor's main day market (Mariborska tržnica). The square went through a big change in the recent two years, the new day market was redesigned. A big underground garage was built under the multiple leveled structure that facilitates Maribor's main market. Many people were not happy with the design of the architects Rok Benda, Primož Hočevar and Mitja Zorc, because it doesn't fit well in the area. But not only that. It turned out that the modern (you could say extraterrestrial) design of the umbrellas, that were praised as revolutionary, didn't do the job well. Not only is the whole level wet, when it rains, the first snow destroyed some of them, which cost a lot. The garage is mostly unoccupied, the shops inside the structure are empty and less and less people are going to the market here, they rather go to big shopping malls, because it's more convenient. The day market today (in 2010) is barely making any profit. Basically money was thrown out the window and the bad and unpractical design destroyed the once vibrant area of Maribor's daily life. It's a shame.

See some photos of Vodnik square:

The famous Round or Judgement tower and parts of the medieval defense wall.

The main level of Maribor's day market with the freaky umbrellas. Photo from August 2010.

This is how the open market looked like in November on a busy day.

The Vodnik square from near the river Drava. You can see the entrance to the garage.

This square, that used to be on a small slope is today an ugly multileveled day market, that doesn't attract people and keeps losing money. I don't know what the architects were thinking and what was on mayor's mind, but this is definitely a shame. New things are not always good for an old city such as Maribor. Sometimes all it needs is a good renovation and few additions. But well, now we have to live with this. I still hope some improvements will be made and that the market will attract more people.

If you visit Maribor's Freedom square, you will see these historically important buildings:

1 Round tower (Sodni stolp)
2 Minoriti (Franciscan monastery)

[My MARIBOR page][My SLOVENIA page][Info: Source][All photos by MKL, 2010]